I'm so excited....and a little nervous

Tomorrow Cash has his scan. I am so excited and nervous. Like the night before school. 

I am excited to see the comparison from his first scan. I am excited to have In & Out for lunch. I am excited it's supposed to be warm.

I am nervous that Mr. Dwain will say he is done with treatment. (I really don't think his head is ready) I am not ready for him to be done. I feel like his head will deflate like a flat tire.  It's a bad dream I keep having.  I am nervous my alarm won't go off and we will be late and then we can't have the scan I have been looking forward to.  I guess those are both silly things to be worried about. 

A fellow plagio momma posted this in the Facebook support group tonight. 

I love it.  We get asked these all the time and sometimes I just want to hear how cute and handsome my baby is. ;) 

I read today that Chase Pistone (NASCAR truck series) will be racing to support Plagiocephaly Awareness on Saturday. This made my heart so happy. 

I also learned about the Noggin Roundup this week. www.plagoawareness.com  It is a 5k/fun run to support plagio awareness. This year it is September 6 at Midland Collage in Midland Texas. We will be there. I guess I need to get to running.... 

My little guy started sitting up on his own yesterday.  

Pleae excuse any typos or misspellings. Blogging on the iPhone tonight. :) 

2 Monthiversary

Yesterday was Cash's 2 Monthiversary and his 7 month birthday.  I can not believe how quickly the last 2 months have gone by.  Everyone always says it goes by quickly....and that it does.  Here is his 2 month comparison photo. 

I love this little round head

I look at the shape from Day 1 and am just stunned.  I really didn't realize it was that bad.  Wow.  Cash has his 2 month scan on Friday.  I can not wait to see what his numbers are and to see a visual picture of the change. 

 

Cash has been super busy in the last few weeks. 

He has been practicing sitting up on his own. 

 

He got to meet his Grumpy for the first time!!

He has 5 teeth and working on #6.

He likes chicken. 
(he decided he wanted what was on my plate.  LOL)

 

 

Cash loves to play with his Daddy.

He likes to take selfies.

Cash has also started "crawling".  I tried to upload a video but my computer has gone crazy! 

 

 

Save The Date

3 Hours 1-way

When I take Cash for his adjustments we have to drive 3 hours to get there.  Some days we have a good trip and get there without having to stop. Other days we don't. Today we left early enough that Cash fell back asleep and slept the entire way. It's was nice. ;)  

Cash was so excited to see Mr. Dwain!  I was shocked when he told me that Cash had had 3 mm of growth since his last visit. I thought that Cash was going through a growth spurt. He was sleeping and eating a lot last week. 

I couldn't believe how round the back of his head was! I know I keep saying that, but I am just amazed by this entire process. 

After our visit we stopped at the mall to stretch and be out of the truck for a while before our 3 hour drive home.  I had a hard time there. It seemed like everyone was staring and it just really rubbed me wrong today for some reason. I am usually easy going about it and tell my self that everyone is staring because he is the cutest baby in the world. ;) But today I couldn't get past it. So much so I had to leave the mall. As we were riding the elevator down to the parking garage a lady asked me about it.  It's always the same "please forgive me for asking..." I always say "don't be sorry, thank you for asking". Anyways the lady asked and I told her why and what the helmet does. She was so kind and sweet. I walked out of the elevator and started to cry.  Some days are just hard. 

I love my helmet baby. But somedays I am just so tired of it. Tired of having to take it on and off to get dressed, tired of the smell, tired of cleaning it, tired of the stares. But when I see his round little head it makes all of that and the 6 hr drive worth every second!!  

1 Month Update

It's been a while since I have updated. We have had some great progress!! 

Can you believe how much his head shape has changed?!?  I was amazed when I put this collage together. 

There really hasn't been much to update about in the past few weeks.  Cash did get sick with croup and we had to leave the helmet off for a few days due to his fever.  While he had it off we went to dinner and while Cash was sitting in the high chair eating a server dropped a cheese grater on his head.  Of course he didn't have his protection on!! He had a few red marks and a little bump. Nothing to bad and all were gone the next morning. 

Cash celebrated his 6 month birthday! 

And he now has 3 teeth!  I can't get a good picture of his top tooth, but this one makes me smile. 

We went to Star Craninal this past Friday to see Mr. Dwain for an adjustment. 

Here Mr. D was checking to see how much room was between the helmet and Cashs head. 

He took Cashs helmet off to check for red spots and to make note of the areas to shave and make room for growth. 

He measured Cashs head to see how much growth he has had. His head is now as long as it is wide!! Woot Woot!! He has had about 3 mm growth. 

Mr. D checks all over Cashs head each visit. 

After all adjustments are made Mr. D puts Cashs helmet back on and says he will see us in 2 weeks. 

In a month we will have another scan in the STARScanner to see exactly how much growth and change he has had. I can't wait!! 

I will leave you with pictures from the last few weeks. 

2 Week Update

The past 2 weeks have not been what I expected.  What I expected was a bunch of tears, sleepless nights, sweat, stink & just learning to adjust to life with a helmet.  Let me tell you...this little boy is a rock star!  He doesn't even know the helmet is on his head.  It hasn't affected him at all. 

 

We have adjusted very well to life with the helmet.  Our daily schedule hasn't changed much.  We wake up, have breakfast (loves bananas & cereal), get dressed (take helmet off & put back on), play, nap, eat, play, nap, eat.  Around 6:30 we have dinner (green beans, sweet potatoes or carrots) then take a bath.  This is when Cash gets to have his helmet off for 1 hour.  Before we started therapy I thought that 1 hr was not going to be long enough.  How do you get a bath, clean the helmet & let it all dry in 1 hr?  Well, most of the time 1 hr is too long.  Cash has always gone to bed soon after his bath, so it has been an adjustment to have an hour after his bath to play.  I have heard that the sweat from the helmet is awful.  Cash again has surprised me...he doesn't sweat any more than he used to.  The smell is horrible, not just in the helmet, but on his head.  I can't get him in the bath quick enough.  But after cleaning the helmet out with rubbing alcohol & letting it air dry the smell disappears.  Not what I expected.  Cash sleeps surprisingly well.  The last few days he has been waking up multiple times during the night and wanting to eat.  I am thinking he may be going through a growth spurt.  Which would be awesome!  That would really help to round out his little noggin.   

 

This past Sunday I had Cash's helmet off so I could dress him and could see a visible difference in his head shape.  10 days & there is already change!  How amazing is that!  

 

This picture shows the difference in just 2 weeks.  I am just so amazed.

 

Cash has been super busy the past 2 weeks.  Since getting his helmet he:

• doesn't sleep swaddled anymore
• has 2 teeth
• can roll over!!

 

 

Adjusting...

I called STAR early yesterday morning hoping to get an adjustment appointment.  They had a 2:30!  We got dressed, went to lunch & started the 2 hr drive to Dallas.  We put Cash's helmet back on him 2 hrs before his appointment so Mr. Dwain could see the red marks.  

In the car I mentioned to Grammy that I was worried the mark wouldn't be there.  (Like when you are sick and go to the doctor and instantly feel better.) 

Mr. Dwain was running behind, so Ms. Libbi started with Cash.  She used a little tool to measure between the helmet and Cash's noggin.  Next, she took the helmet off to see the spot...it was still there...but not as dark.  Of course it wasn't. :\  She said she could feel a small bump on the inside of the helmet in that area.  She took the helmet and made the adjustment and put it back on his head for a few minutes to see if it helped.  

Ms. Libbi making adjustments

My little fella was so happy after Ms. Libbi made her adjustments

Cash was so excited when Mr. Dwain came in to see him.  Mr. D also checked and measured all the spots between the helmet & the noggin.  He took the helmet off and checked the red spots on his head and made marks on the helmet to know where to shave a little out.  (I am not sure why I didn't take any pictures)  He used a calliper to measure Cash's head.  Since Cash got his helmet last Thursday he has had 3/4 of a millimeter growth!!  It is amazing to me how fast he is growing!  Mr. D said everything looked great and to come back in 2 weeks.

When we were leaving Cash met a new friend.  It was so sweet to see them interact. Lil' Miss H kept grabbing at Cashs helmet.  So funny it was 28 degrees outside and they both are sockless. These helmets sure keep them warm. 

Cash did great wearing his helmet the rest of the day.  I am just so amazed how unfazed he is by it. 

We stopped at SAMS club on the way home.  The only way we can clean the inside of his helmet is with rubbing alcohol. We picked up a few bottles. 

My happy guy with Grammy.  Our checker asked about his stickers and told us her son had also worn a helmet. We had another person ask about his Razorback.  We got a lot more smiles and not so many stares.  We had a much better experience out and about. Maybe it was just my attitude was better. ;) 

Tuesday morning I put the helmet back on as soon as he woke.  Here he is relaxing with momma. Ready for his morning nap. 

He slept in his bed for about 15 min.  The last few days he has started rolling over, so we have stopped swaddling. Agh!  The little guy has only been able to sleep when swaddled since birth. This is going to be a tough transition with the helmet and no swaddling.  I guess we will take it one day at a time.  We tried sleeping in the helmet Tuesday night, and it didn't work out great. We will try again tonight. 

I love this toothless (if you look closely, you can see a little tooth) grin!

72 hours

The first few days of helmet wearing have been pretty good. Cash acts like he doesn't even know it is on his head. Like it has always been there. I am so glad about that.

Saturday we went to our local baby boutique to have some custom stickers made for his helmet. Early last week I went in and had some custom shirts made for him. 

Stylin! 

As you can see Cash is in short sleeves and no socks...in January. (my mom freaked when she saw this picture) It was so warm on Saturday and he gets so hot with the helmet on his head. 

We have already made a list of other stickers we need to add. My favorite is the $ sign. :0) 

I can not believe he is 5 months old already!  

Our first trip to Wal-Mart was interesting. Lots of stares, a few smiles and no one spoke to him. :(  Usually when we are out people always stop and talk to Cash but no one said a thing. If you see a baby with a helmet say hi! Comment on the decorations. It will help ease the anxiety of the parents. ;) 

We took Cash's helmet off when we got home. (We were on the 2 on 1 off schedule) We noticed he had as very dark red, almost purple spot his head. 

Red marks are common but if they don't go away within an hour we are supposed to leave the helmet off and call to schedule an adjustment. Of course this happens on a Saturday.  It took a little over 2 hours to go away.  Sunday Cash didn't wear his helmet due to the red mark.  Monday morning I will call STAR and see if we can get that spot fixed.